Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1887-03-17
Merry LITTLE jim.
Remarkable Goodness OF a Diminutive Sc
cret-Service Detective.


Merry LITTLE jim.
Remarkable Goodness OF a Diminutive ss-
cret-Seryice Detective.
We had in the Secret-Service Bureau
in 1866 a detective named James Red
field, who was known to all of us by
the sobriquet of Little JIM" He was
only five feet one inch high, weighed
ninety-seven pounds, and every body
who looked at him made a mental cal
culation that he would die of consump-
ton inside of six weeks. Notwith-
standing his appearance of i'll health
he was tough as hickory knot, and a
man with more nerve never lived
After the close of the war lot of
desperate fellows had their headquar-
tiers in Arkansas and the Indian Terri
tory, and when complaints of counter
feiting began to come in three of us
were sent out there to work up case.
| We got on to the gang at Van Buren,,
and in the course of a fortnight visited
Fort Smith, Muscogee, Shawneetown
and Tahlequah. We picked up couple
of counterfeiters and sent them to Fort
Smith, and then ran across couple of
Pinkerton men who were in pursuit of
a fellow known as Bloody Jim Baker
He was a man-killer, stage robber,
horse-thief and all else that was bad,
and the officers had followed him from
the neighborhood of Clinton, Mo-,
where he had committed robbery and
murder. If / remember Alright, how
ever, he was wanted on charge back
of that-an attempt to rob an express
car near Hannibal, and the numbering
of the messenger.
| When we met the Pinkerton men
they had located Baker in lone cabin
in the mountains, near Shawneetown,
and had been lying in wait for him fol-
a week. He was well-armed, known to
be desperate, and the probability is that
they had not recklessly exposed them
selves. They were in hopes he would
visit the town, but he had plenty OF
provisions, and refused to come out. Ii
was not for us to mix up in the affair,
and we should never have even heard
the particulars but for a quarrel be-
tween Little Jim and one of the Pinker.
ton men. Both had been drinking, and
Jim charged the man with cowardice in
not making the arrest. Words were
leading to blows when we separated
them, and | recall how the Pinkerton
man, his face flushed and his fist in the
air. exclaimed:
1.-THE whole secret-service force OF
pap-suckers couldn't arrest one side of
such man as Bloody Bakerr'
The row occurred in the evening. Al
daylight next morning, before any Of
us were astir, little Jim mounted I
mule and rode to within half mile o.
Bakers cabin. What followed | hearC
from Bakers own lips, and he woulC
have no reason to lie about it. Having
nothing in his hand but p switch, ON
little man walked straight up the patti
to the house. Baker saw him coming
and showed q rifle out of a loop-hole anC
ordered him To halt.
HALT be hangedr' replied Redfeld
as he kept on his way, and his display
of recklessness prevented the outlaw
from shooting. He walked straight W
to the door, pounded on it with his ils
and called out:
"You, Baker, open this door. Nv,
come for your
"Who are youp"
"a detective come to arrest your
"Skip, or I'll kill your
"You daren't kill anybody. Opel
the door and stop this fooling, as
have no time to loser'
"Well, sir" said Baker to me, :"
fell into tremble, lost my sand ant
the first thing l opened the door. HI
came in, sat down, told me to 90 aheat
with the breakfast, and I'll be hange,
if didn't do it and if we didn't eat to
gether. When we were through h
handcuffed me to his left wrist, an,
like fool l walked into town with hin
and was turned over to the Pinkertol
men,"
you could have killed himl oh
served.
"Why, | could have picked him III
and squeezed the life out of him witt
one hand, but the internal GOODNESS o
the little rat unnerved me-"
When Little Jim brought him int,
Shawneetown we were all at the post
Office. He walked straight up to tn
Pinkerton men, who were rubbing thei
eyes in amazement, and, unlocking tn
handcuff from his wrist, placidly re
) marked:
Here's your Bloody Jim, and you,
better be little careful of him. H
might bite a Pinkerton manr'-Cor
Detroit Fred Press.
Miss Lille Scidmore, the Washing
ton correspondent, is famous travel
! er. and is said to have been around tn,